BaekduDaegan Mountains

BaekduDaegan Mountains are a major range of mountains forming the backbone of the Korean peninsula that stretches out about 1,400 km from Mt. Baekdu in the north to Mt. Jiri in the south. It lies down across big mountains over the total landmass, extending 684 km from Mt. Hyangnobong down to Mt. Jiri in South Korea. It is regarded as Korean spirit.

The Korean government, in order to preserve the BaekduDaegan Mountains, legislated the Act on the Protection of BaekduDaegan Mountains in 2003. Based on the Act, restrictions are placed on land development in the protected areas as well. 263,000 ha of protected areas accounting for 2.6% of the total landmass and 4% of the total forest cover have been designated and classified into the core and buffer zones, 170,000ha and 93,000 ha respectively. The BaekduDaegan Mountains protection plan(2006~2015) was devised in 2005, and the implementation plan is set up every year and protection projects are implemented accordingly, including research projects to build a database of natural resources, support projects to increase local income, restoration projects, and private land purchase projects to assign those sites to the protected areas.

The BaekduDaegan Mountains, as a core of biodiversity, are the nest of a great variety of flora and fauna. It is one of 102,000 protected areas registered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), and it is highly recognized as well-managed areas with an effective protection system, meeting the objectives of IUCN protected area designation.